AJ signed with Texas on December 20th, which is pretty late in the offseason for a free agent. There was marginal interest in AJ, to the point were articles were being written pondering the possible reasons. The Yankees kicked the tires but were weary of his defense. He got shockingly very little attention. Texas came in late and signed him, and it is accurate to say that Texas offered the highest salary. They may have made the only offer to him.

By the way, I'd love to see him come back just because we are now lost at that position. But, I hope he makes as much as he can wherever he goes. The dude took $2 million in 2011 to come back to the Sox (after they signed Dunn and re-signed Konerko, who also took deferred money). Even though he made $6 mil in 2012, the 2011 pay cut was substantial compared to what he had been making the previous five seasons.

In fairness, it should be noted AJ took $2M in 2011 in the first year of a back-loaded 2 year/$8M deal where he made $6M in 2012, per Cot's. IMHO, the backloading was taken by AJ to make him harder to trade.

SMO

Edit: Back to the OP topic - no, I think it is time to forget about AJ, but I also hope that the 2014 starting catcher is someone not yet on the team. Flowers was never the answer, and after a skyrocket start, Phegley flamed out and settled into similar mediocrity.

I am certain he did not mean that they could draft and develop a catcher by opening day. I mean, I know you and I tend to jump down people's throats, but come on.

I don't see what value that comment has to a discussion about the 2014 team, though. I will officially go on record and say I fully support the White Sox's plan to draft and develop 25 All-Stars but in the meantime, I think we need to field actual players for next season.

Again, it's a total waste of money if they do not plan on constructing a roster that can win the division in 2014.

That doesn't make any sense, it's not like money saved in 2014 will be earmarked for some magical date down the line when people think the Sox will be good enough to compete again, frankly, this team already has one of the better pitching staffs in the American League, the Sox need to find the pieces to be competent offensively and they can very competitive soon.

The 2012 team had an Expected W-L of 88-74 with a worse pitching staff that the 2013 team did.

AJ makes no sense for a team that is not going to contend. I would rather them bring in 2 veteran defensive first catchers to platoon. in the Jose Molina mold on cheap contracts, this would buy them some time to see if Kevan Smith, or Miquel Gonzales could be the long term answer. The Yankees are looking at AJ and I could see 2 Year 15 million dollar deal. You could sign a Molina and maybe a Gerald Laird for 1.5 million each with a club option. I know they need offense, but the defense behind the plate was horrible. Sad thing is, Molina and Laird would be an upgrade over Flowers and Phlegly at the plate as well.

That doesn't make any sense, it's not like money saved in 2014 will be earmarked for some magical date down the line when people think the Sox will be good enough to compete again, frankly, this team already has one of the better pitching staffs in the American League, the Sox need to find the pieces to be competent offensively and they can very competitive soon.

The 2012 team had an Expected W-L of 88-74 with a worse pitching staff that the 2013 team did.

I am saying that if they basically announce that they are not in a competitive state (as they did last year - I mean, it came from Konerko, but still), then there is no point to acquiring aging guys for that much cash.

They didn't do it at all last year (Keppinger was multi-year and I think they thought they had something), so my theory is kinda correct there.

AJ makes no sense for a team that is not going to contend. I would rather them bring in 2 veteran defensive first catchers to platoon. in the Jose Molina mold on cheap contracts, this would buy them some time to see if Kevan Smith, or Miquel Gonzales could be the long term answer. The Yankees are looking at AJ and I could see 2 Year 15 million dollar deal. You could sign a Molina and maybe a Gerald Laird for 1.5 million each with a club option. I know they need offense, but the defense behind the plate was horrible. Sad thing is, Molina and Laird would be an upgrade over Flowers and Phlegly at the plate as well.